Hand luggage



April 14, 1964 J. K. SPECHT 3,128,854

HAND LUGGAGE Filed Feb. 5, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Joy/v max SPE'A/T INVENTOR.

I BY/4M 54 4 14 United States Patent 3,128,854 HAND LUGGAGE John Knox Specht, Aurora, Colo. (2816 Shenandoah Ave, Riverside, Calif.) Filed Feb. 5, 1962, Ser. No. 171,143 6 Claims. (Ci. 190- 31) The present invention relates to lightweight hand luggage, in which garments and personal effects may be packed while traveling. The primary object of the invention is to provide an attractive piece of lightweight hand luggage that is extremely convenient to use, and in which outer garments such as suits, jackets, trousers, dresses, skirts, etc., are packed so that they are protected against being creased or wrinkled, while other clothing such as shirts, underwear, socks, handkerchie-fs, and the like are separately compartmented where they are easily accessible without disturbing the packed outer garments. Thus, the more frequently used personal effects such as toilet articles, are packed separately, and are readily accessible without disturbing any of the other things.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new article of light-weight hand luggage that is inexpensive to manufacture and extremely durable.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a hand bag employing the principles of my invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end view of the same;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view through the inner core, which is normally contained within the outer cover;

FIGURE 4 is an end view of the inner core, showing how certain personal effects are segregated in their own respective compartments for ready access;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken at 5-5 in FIG- URE 3;

FIGURE 6 is a side elevational view of the inner core, showing a hanger with a garment mounted thereon, and the said hanger secured on the end flanges with the garment wrapped around the cylindrical core;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view, showing one end of the keeper bar engaged in an aperture in one of the radial flanges on the inner core;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary elevational view, showing one of the flanges bent outwardly to permit the keeper bar to be inserted between the flanges; and

FIGURE 9 is an end view of one of the hangers.

The hand bag of the present invention is designated in its entirety by the reference numeral 10, and comprises an outer cover 11, of canvas or other fabric-like material, and an inner cylindrical core 12. The cylindrical core 12 is preferably made of a soft resilient plastic molded in one piece, and has a hollow cylindrical center portion 13 with radial flanges 14 and 15 at opposite ends thereof. A transverse partition wall 16 extends across the inside of the cylindrical core 13 about midway between the ends, dividing the interior thereof into two end compartments 17 and 18. The right-hand compartment 1 8 is further subdivided by two parallel partitions 20 and 21, which are perpendicular to the partition member 16, and these divide the said compartment into subcompartments 22, 23 and 24.

Each of the end flanges 14, 15 is provided with a plurality of apertures 26. As best shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, the apertures 26 are preferably arranged in three concentric circles, which are equally spaced apart from one another.

The main outer garments to be packed, which would r 3,128,854 Patented Apr. 14, 1964 include such items as coats, jackets, trousers, skirts, dresses, etc, are mounted on hangers 30, one of which is shown in FIGURE 6. The hanger 30 has the usual shoulder-shaped body, and is provided with a transverse rod 31 at the top edge thereof which projects laterally in the opposite directions. The ends of the rod 31 are somewhat reduced in diameter at 32 to seat within the apertures 26, as shown, and the flanges 14, 15 are resilient so that they can be bent outwardly enough to insert the hanger cross-bar 31 be-tween them, with the reduced end portions 32 seated in the apertures 26. A swiveled hook 34 is pivotally connected to the top center portion of the hanger 30 to permit hanging the same on a closet rod, when the bag is unpacked.

One or more keeper bars 35 are provided, which also have reduced end portions 36 that fit into the apertures 26. The purpose of the keeper bar is to hold down the bottom end of a garment supported on one of the hangers 30, and to this end, the keeper bar is placed as shown in FIGURE 6, so that it holds the bottom end of the garment against the cylindrical core 13.

A lid 37 is provided, which may be inserted into the end of the compartment 17 to close the same. The purpose of the lid 37 is to hold loose articles from falling out of the compartment, and to protect any fragile article, such as glass bottles filled with liquid, from being broken by sharp impact of a hard object against that end of the inner core. The lid 37 is preferably molded of plastic, and has an annular, cylindrical flange 38 which fits snugly within the interior of the cylindrical core 13'. There is also a handle 39 on the outside of the lid 3-7 to facilitate removing the same from the inner core.

The outer cover 11 may be made of canvas or any other suitable material, such as sheet plastic, leather or the like, and is generally cylindrical in configuration, with circular ends 40, so that it conforms closely to the contours of the cylindrical inner core when the latter is contained within. The outer cover 11 has an opening 42 extending along the length thereof, and diametrically across both ends. The opposed edges of the opening 42 are provided with slide fasteners 44 which interlock to secure the edges together. Two slides 46 and 48 are provided, which are normally at opposite ends of the slide fastener 44. The slides 46, 48 are adapted to open or close the slide fastener 44 from either end thereof, so that either end of the cover 11 can be opened to provide access into the corresponding inner compartment of the inner core, without exposing the side or the other end thereof. Normally, only one of the two slides 46, 48 would be pulled away from its corresponding end of the slide fastener at a time, but in FIGURE 1, both of the slides are shown partly opened to illustrate the manner whereby the slide fastener may be opened from either end.

The outer cover 11 is provided with two handle grips 50, on opposite sides of the slide fastener 42, which are preferably formed of straps 51 that pass around the circumference of the outer cover 11. Another pair of handle grips 52 are provided on each end of the outer cover, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2.

The manner of using the invention is believed to be more or less self-evident from the foregoing description and illustrations. Outer garments are hung on hangers 30, which are then attached to the two flanges 14, 15 and the garment wrapped around the cylindrical core 13. The

bottom end of the garment is held in place by means of one of the keeper rods 35, which is also engaged at its ends in a pair of apertures 26 in the flanges 14, 15. Shirts may be packed in one of the sub-compartments 22, 23 or 24, and the other sub-compartments may be used to contain toilet articles, underwear, socks, handkerchiefs, and the like. Shoes, bottles, and other miscellaneous articles 3 may be packed in the other end compartment 17 where they will be protected by the lid 37.

When the inner core 12 has been packed with all of the clothing and other personal effects that are to be taken along on a trip, the core is placed inside the outer cover 11 and the slide fastener 44 is closed. The hand bag is then ready to travel. If it is desired to get at the toilet articles or other personal effects while en route, for the purpose of freshening up, shaving, etc., it is necessary only to open the slide closure 44 from one end so as to expose the sub-compartment 22, 23 or 24 in which the desired article is packed. a

The hand bag of the present invention is particularly useful for airplane travel, where weight is an important consideration, but it is also a great convenience when traveling by any other form of transportation, as it provides an orderly arrangement for carrying a considerable quantity of clothing and personal effects, all of which is readily accessible with a minimum of disturbance to the other articles packed with it. Outer garments, being wrapped loosely around the outside of the large-diarneter cylindrical core 13, are not creased or crushed, and can be unpacked after days or weeks of traveling, in almost exactly the same condition that they were packed.

While I have shown and described in considerable detail what I believe to be the preferred form of my invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the shape and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the broad scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A lightweight travel bag for containing garments and other personal effects, comprising:

a generally cylindrical inner core, having radial flanges at opposite ends thereof, each of said flanges having a plurality of spaced apertures which are aligned with corresponding apertures in the other flange;

a hanger adapted to receive and hold a garment at one end thereof, said garment being wrapped around said cylindrical core;

means at opposite ends of said hanger engageable in one pair of said apertures in said flanges;

a keeper bar having means at opposite ends thereof engageable in another pair of said apertures, said keeper bar overlying the other end of said garment and holding it against said core;

means within said cylindrical core forming compartments to receive personal effects;

a resilient, fabric-like cover enclosing said inner core,

said cover being generally cylindrical in configuration to conform to said core, and having an opening extending the length thereof along one side and diametrically across both ends theerof, said opening having slide closure means along the opposed edges thereof; and

handle means on said cover.

2. A lightweight travel bag as defined in claim 1, wherein said inner core has a transverse partition intermediate its ends, dividing the interior of said inner core into two separate end compartments, each of which is accessible from the corresponding end of the core.-

3. A lightweight travel bag as defined in claim 2, wherein one of said end compartments is further divided by at least one additional partition extending crosswise within said one end compartment perpendicular to said transverse partition, thereby providing at least two separate sub-compartments within said one end compartment, to receive certain personal effects which are to be kept separate from the other personal effects packed within said core.

4. A lightweight travel bag as defined in claim 1, wherein said inner core is formed of resilient plastic, whereby said end flanges can be bent outwardly to permit engagement of said means at opposite ends of said hanger and said keeper bar in said apertures.

5. A lightweight travel bag as defined in claim 1, wherein said slide closure means on said cover has slide openers at either end, whereby access can be had to the compartments at either end of said inner core without exposing the side or other end of said core.

6. A lightweight travel bag for containing garments and other personal effects, comprising:

a generally cylindrical inner core of resilient plastic, having radial flanges at opposite ends thereof, each of said flanges having a plurality of spaced apertures provided therein which are aligned with correspond ing apertures in the other flange;

a hanger adapted to receive and hold a garment at one end thereof, said garment being wrapped around said cylindrical core between said flanges;

projections at opposite ends of said hanger engageable in one pair of said apertures in said flanges, said flanges being bendable outwardly to permit engagement of said projections in said apertures;

a keeper bar having projections at opposite ends engageable in another pair of said apertures, said keeper bar overlying the other end of said garment and holding it against said core;

a transverse partition within said inner core intermediate the ends thereof, said partition dividing the interior of said core into two separate end compartments, each of which is accessible from the corre sponding end of the core;

an additional pair of parallel partitions extending crosswise within one of said end compartments to divide the same into three sub-compartments to receive certain personal effects which are to be kept separate from one another;

a resilient, fabric-like cover enclosing said inner core,

said cover being generally cylindrical in configuration to conform to said core, and having an opening extending the length thereof along one side and diametricallyacross both ends thereof;

a slide closure along the opposed edges of said opening, said slide closure having a pair of slides at opposite ends thereof, each of which is operable to open or close the slide closure independent of the other, whereby access can be had to the compartments at either end of said inner core without exposing the side or other end of said core; and

handle means on said cover.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 106,132 Doppelt Sept. 21, 1937 205,617 dAlessandro July 2, 1878 470,567 Hitch Mar. 8, 1892 1,094,009 Parkhurst Apr. 21, 1914 1,365,403 Holway Jan. 11, 1921 1,722,757 Levine July 30, 1929 1,893,420 Lacher Jan. 3, 1933 2,385,053 Bohn Sept. 18, 1945 3,019,952 Brewster Feb. 6, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 238,934 Switzerland Dec. 3, 1945 

1. A LIGHTWEIGHT TRAVEL BAG FOR CONTAINING GARMENTS AND OTHER PERSONAL EFFECTS, COMPRISING: A GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL INNER CORE, HAVING RADIAL FLANGES AT OPPOSITE ENDS THEREOF, EACH OF SAID FLANGES HAVING A PLURALITY OF SPACED APERTURES WHICH ARE ALIGNED WITH CORRESPONDING APERTURES IN THE OTHER FLANGE; A HANGER ADAPTED TO RECEIVE AND HOLD A GARMENT AT ONE END THEREOF, SAID GARMENT BEING WRAPPED AROUND SAID CYLINDRICAL CORE; MEANS AT OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID HANGER ENGAGEABLE IN ONE PAIR OF SAID APERTURES IN SAID FLANGES; A KEEPER BAR HAVING MEANS AT OPPOSITE ENDS THEREOF ENGAGEABLE IN ANOTHER PAIR OF SAID APERTURES, SAID KEEPER BAR OVERLYING THE OTHER END OF SAID GARMENT AND HOLDING IT AGAINST SAID CORE; MEANS WITHIN SAID CYLINDRICAL CORE FORMING COMPARTMENTS TO RECEIVE PERSONAL EFFECTS; A RESILIENT, FABRIC-LIKE COVER ENCLOSING SAID INNER CORE, SAID COVER BEING GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL IN CONFIGURATION TO CONFORM TO SAID CORE, AND HAVING AN OPENING EXTENDING THE LENGTH THEREOF ALONG ONE SIDE AND DIAMETRICALLY ACROSS BOTH ENDS THEREOF, SAID OPENING HAVING SLIDE CLOSURE MEANS ALONG THE OPPOSED EDGES THEREOF; AND HANDLE MEANS ON SAID COVER. 